Heating flash-on-oil vapor section

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10807017-B2
Application number	US-201816228034-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2018
Priority date	Dec 20, 2018
Publication date	Oct 20, 2020
Grant date	Oct 20, 2020

Abstract

Method and apparatus for recovering a material by vaporization is disclosed. The method includes providing a heat transfer fluid to a liquid section of a vessel, injecting a material having a first component and a second component into the heat transfer fluid, the first component having a first volatility and the second component having a second volatility greater than the first volatility, circulating the heat transfer fluid from the liquid section to a heat exchanger, heating the heat transfer fluid to a temperature selected to vaporize at least a portion of the second component to a vapor section of the vessel, recovering the vaporized second component from the vapor section of the vessel, and circulating at least a portion of the heat transfer fluid from the from the heat exchanger through the vapor section of the vessel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of recovering a material, comprising:
providing a heat transfer fluid to a liquid section of a vessel;
injecting a material having a first component and a second component into the heat transfer fluid, the first component having a first volatility and the second component having a second volatility greater than the first volatility;
circulating the heat transfer fluid from the liquid section to a heat exchanger;
heating the heat transfer fluid to a temperature selected to vaporize at least a portion of the second component to a vapor section of the vessel;
recovering the vaporized second component from the vapor section of the vessel;
circulating at least a portion of the heat transfer fluid from the from the heat exchanger through the vapor section of the vessel; and
condensing a portion of the vaporized second component on a wall of the vessel in the vapor section of the vessel.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising circulating a portion of the heat transfer fluid from the heat exchanger to the liquid section of the vessel.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising circulating the heat transfer fluid from the vapor section of the vessel to the liquid section of the vessel.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein circulating the heat transfer fluid from the vapor section of the vessel to the liquid section of the vessel comprises flowing the heat transfer fluid through a conduit from the vapor section of the vessel to a dispenser in the liquid section of the vessel.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the dispenser is immersed in the heat transfer fluid.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising circulating a portion of the heat transfer fluid from the heat exchanger to the conduit.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sensing a temperature in the vapor section of the vessel.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sensing a temperature of a wall of the vessel at the vapor section of the vessel.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising adjusting a flow rate of the heat transfer fluid to the vapor section of the vessel based on the sensed temperature of the wall of the vessel.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising returning the condensed portion to the liquid section of the vessel, sensing a temperature of a wall of the vessel at the vapor section of the vessel, and adjusting a flow rate of the heat transfer fluid to the vapor section of the vessel based on the sensed temperature of the wall of the vessel.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring a flow rate of the condensed material and adjusting a flow rate of the heat transfer fluid to the vapor section of the vessel based on the flow rate of the condensed material.

12. A method of recovering a material, comprising:
providing a heat transfer fluid to a liquid section of a vessel;
injecting a material having a first component and a second component into the heat transfer fluid, the first component having a first volatility and the second component having a second volatility greater than the first volatility;
circulating the heat transfer fluid from the liquid section to a heat exchanger;
heating the heat transfer fluid to a temperature selected to vaporize at least a portion of the second component to a vapor section of the vessel;
recovering the vaporized second component from the vapor section of the vessel;
circulating at least a portion of the heat transfer fluid from the heat exchanger through the vapor section of the vessel;
condensing a portion of the vaporized second component on a wall of the vessel in the vapor section of the vessel; and
sensing a temperature of a wall of the vessel at the vapor section of the vessel.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising adjusting a flow rate of the heat transfer fluid to the vapor section of the vessel based on the sensed temperature of the wall of the vessel.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising returning the condensed portion to the liquid section of the vessel.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising measuring a flow rate of the condensed portion and adjusting a target temperature of the wall of the vessel in the vapor section of the vessel based on the flow rate of the condensed portion, wherein adjusting the flow rate of the heat transfer fluid to the vapor section of the vessel is based on a comparison of the sensed temperature of the wall of the vessel to the target temperature.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising recovering the condensed portion from the vapor section.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising adjusting a flow rate of the material having the first component and the second component to the vessel based on the flow rate of the condensed portion.

Assignees

• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Ghorbani Nasser

Classifications

• B01D1/14

  with heated gases or vapours {or liquids} in contact with the liquid · CPC title

• B01D1/0094

  with forced circulation · CPC title

• B01D1/0052

  Use of a liquid transfer medium or intermediate fluid, e.g. bain-marie · CPC title

• B01D5/0063

  Reflux condensation · CPC title

• B01D3/06

  Flash distillation · CPC title